In a sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?

CRT/tanaka, the firm I co-founded, helps brands connect with consumers and customers in meaningful, relevant ways. As the Chief Creative Officer and whatcanbeSM ambassador, I spend a great deal of my time engaging with and listening to thought leaders, colleagues and clients and then and distilling what I hear into insights and ideas to inspire us to be great for our clients and our employees.

What were you doing before, and what prompted the change?

The reason I started my first PR and marketing agency, PT&Co., was because I was trying to avoid having to fire four talented colleagues when we lost our biggest client. The only way I could avoid firing my colleagues was if our agency—at the time a subsidiary of the advertising agency, Chiat/Day—was independent. If it were, I would’ve had ultimate authority over hiring and firing. That’s the reason I led a management buyback and co-founded an all-employee owned agency. The four colleagues I avoided having to fire were involved in the management buyback and helped PT&Co. become recognized as the “#1 Most Creative PR Agency” in America seven years later.

If you want others to play with you on the playground or in the boardroom you must share your resources and rewards.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

To share my cookies and toys, which was my late mother’s greatest admonition from an early age. This advice has served me well everywhere from the playground to the boardroom. Basically, it means that if you want others to play with you on the playground or in the boardroom you must share your resources and rewards to create a positive experience/opportunity for everyone involved.

What’s the key to running a successful enterprise?

It comes down to my “Significant Six”: belief in your success, perseverance, continual learning, receptivity to change, collaboration and learning from your mistakes. For more from Patrice on these, click here.

What words do you live by?

To choose joy in my life every day; to be mindful of that joy; and to share that joy with others. This is how I try to live my life. And, by doing so, I believe that I will be ‘good to go’ whenever it’s my time, having done everything I most wanted to do and, importantly, having lived and loved full-out and fearlessly.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?

I enjoy getting all done up—costume, hair, makeup, jewelry—to compete in ballroom dance competitions. Sometimes I think my love of ballroom dancing, apart from my childhood dream of “dancing like Ginger Rogers” is all about playing “dress up,” which was another favorite pastime of mine as a young girl.